


Feels Like Dejavu

by Fangirlingmanaged



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M, Parent Tony Stark, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Steve is in there somewhere, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark is Good With Kids, only it’s emotional booty calls now, the booty call phone, tony and pepper never got back together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-06
Updated: 2017-10-06
Packaged: 2019-01-09 22:39:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12285747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fangirlingmanaged/pseuds/Fangirlingmanaged
Summary: Happy knows that he screwed up with the kid, okay. He knows that. So it’s probably best if he just— he should probably just keep his distance. So he doesn’t screw up again.Tony has some objections to that, obviously.





	Feels Like Dejavu

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to all the enablers on Tumblr lmao  
> Also I worked through a horrible case of writer’s block for about a month. I finally broke through it to finish my Fiction Writing assignment for uni so yay!
> 
> There’s a PSA about something dear to my heart at the end. Feel free to move on if you’re using fics to take a breather from the real world right now. Stay safe. Take care of yourself.

Tony doesn’t notice anything weird between Happy and the kid until about the fourth or fifth time that they’re both in the same room for an extended period of time. Mostly, Hap has followed his requests to get the kid from his apartment or school and bring him over for his training or R&D sessions. He should have known, he muses now, the moment Hap stopped complaining about the boy. It’s not that the man doesn’t like kids, per se, it’s that he doesn’t deal well with things that he can’t control and teenagers are, by mere virtue of age, incredibly unpredictable.

  
So it’s not until a few months after the Vulture guy incident that he realizes there’s something wrong between his two, ugh ew feelings, friends. Peter is his usual overly enthusiastic self. He’s trailing behind Happy with his mouth running a mile a minute. The big man is walking briskly to where Tony is, hunched over one of his work tables with the left gauntlet of his suit wide open like a frog ready to be dissected, and has a severe frown on his face. Tony tries to keep his mouth from twitching into a smile, because he knows Happy will find a way to get him back later if he does, but inside he’s quite sure his amusement is evident anyway.

  
“Here’s your kid,” the big man grunts in annoyance. Tony can’t even find it in himself to contradict him, and Peter’s big smile makes it impossible to do so. He’s too entertained by Happy’s demeanor, anyway.

  
“You staying this time, Hap?” Tony throws out nonchalantly. It’s been a while since Harold Hogan has spent any time down in the lab with him. It wasn’t an unusual occurrence, before the Avengers and before Pepper, that he’d crash on Tony’s For-Emergencies-Only-Tony-Stark-Don’t-Try-To-Binge-Forty-Nine-Hours-Again futon.

  
He doesn’t pay attention to what he’s doing and gets a minor shock on his fingertips and a little bit of scorching which causes him to look up at his companions. Peter, after a quick side hug to Tony, had migrated to his work station. The schematics for his boots are already up and he’s got that Kid-at-a-candy-store look on his face that makes something like fondness settle warm and deep in Tony’s chest cavity.

So, it’s really due to faulty circuitry that he catches the apprehensive look Happy throws at Peter before he shakes his head. And then.  
He starts rambling excuses, and oh, oh, now Tony knows there’s something that needs fixing in this joint. Happy continues to tell him about his Very Important Job vetting his NBA finals party and helping with the security detail on the Compound and “escorting” Pepper to another UN merger meeting and Tony narrows his eyes. Because he knows at least half of those things have already been looked at at least four times and he knows, knows, that “escorting Pepper” is just code for whatever weird soul-gazing they do around each other these days. But for the sake of sparing the man, and his scientific training, he merely nods and lets the guy beat a hasty retreat.

  
He gets distracted when Peter crows in delight from his station five minutes later. He puts it out of his mind until the next time he asks Happy to get the kid from the YMCA where he’d been tutoring before their training session. The big guy is speed walking towards him, as always, while Peter follows behind with his mouth running a mile a minute. For a second, Tony is afraid his bodyguard will drop right there and then. He hadn’t been kidding when he told Peter about the cardio grams. There’s a concerning blockage on one of Hap’s arteries that had all of them on a hair trigger for the good part of three months. Tony asks him to stay, and once again Happy throws a glance at Peter before he declines.

  
this time, though, the kid catches it. And while Tony is usually shit at discerning emotions when it concern him he catches the droopiness on the boy’s expression. He stills calls out an exuberant goodbye at the guy, but he quickly turns back to his schematics. Not to mention he does that thing, the thing with his mouth that makes him look like a sad puppy and the constant adjustment of his fringe, and Tony watches as Happy leaves quickly.

  
He has a panicky moment where he realizes that he is going to have to be the one to instigate emotional conversation. He scratches at his arms as the mere thought makes him feel as though he’s breaking out in hives. But he looks at Peter, at the defeated slump of his shoulders and the listless way in which he’s flipping through pages of the Mark III Spidey Suit and decides that no matter how shit he’s alway been at this he has to do it. 

  
At least this time he’s not breaking any international laws for his friends.

 

 

“So Happy,” he starts casually after one of their latest boxing matches. He’s leaning against one of the posts on the rink. His shirt is soaked through and he’s trying to catch his breath, but still. He’s Tony Fucking Stark. He can fake nonchalance on his death bed. “Wanna tell me what your deal with Parker is?”

  
Hap, who’d been reclining back on his elbows on the floor of the rink, looses his balance and falls onto his back. He recovers quickly and springs up into a sitting position. “I don’t—what? I don’t have a problem with him.”

  
Tony sucks in a drag of water from his water bottle, but doesn’t say anything. The other man is breathing heavily, and he feels a curl of satisfaction at having improved that much through the years, but Tony knows the flush on the man’s cheeks is about more than the training they’d managed to get through. He raises his eyebrow and waits.

  
“Tony, honest, I don’t have a problem with the kid. I mean, sure, he’s annoying. All boys his age are. It’s fine,” Hap gets to his feet and wipes his face with a towel. Tony takes advantage of the moment to get his smile out of the way. He knows his friend too goddamn well to swallow that.

  
“Right, because you’ve obviously acted the same way every time Harley drops by. It’s not like you take him sparring or to the go-kart rink without my prompting when Pepper and I are stuck in an infernal meeting. It’s not like you told Har where to find the ridiculous MKP XXVII when I hid it,” he continues loudly when Happy opens his mouth to complain. “And of course it’s not like you let him take the Tesla for a spin.”

  
“Around the garage!” Happy contests indignantly. “He’s old enough to start practicing now. He’s looking to take his—“

  
“Yes, and so is Peter,” Tony interrupts. There’s a curl of unease twisting in his stomach the more Happy talks. He’s not quite sure how to feel about the... well, it sounds bad, but favoritism is the only thing he can think of labeling.

  
“Parker has an aunt that can teach him,” Happy answers evasively. He wipes his face again though there’s no sweat there.

  
“Happy,” Tony says and there’s a bit of anger in his voice. He can’t help. Both the boys are his, damn it, and sure they’ve known Harley longer and they’ve seen him grow up into the incredible sass monster teenager that he is now, but still. Peter is just as important to him. He doesn’t like that that, apparently, is not the case with his friend. “What’s this really about? Did Peter say something to you? I know you told me you’d given me all the voicemails, but if there’s anything—“

  
“What?!” Happy near yells as he takes a hasty step back. “No! Tony, what the hell? No, of course not. Peter hasn’t— he wouldn’t— what? You said it yourself, he’s a great kid. He’s— he’s goddamn smart. He runs circles around me all the time, and he doesn’t even laugh at me when i can’t figure out your stupid StarkPad—Pod—whatever thingies. Unlike you and Rhodes, you assholes,” he huffs out.

  
“So you like the kid, then?” Tony feels the tension slowly easing off his posture. He can deal with this. Whatever it is that’s causing this rift between two of the most important people in his life. “Then what is it? And don’t tell me it’s nothing, Hogan,” he warns sternly. “You know I’m usually shit at discerning real emotions when it comes to the people I care about, and if I’ve noticed you can be damn sure he has too.”

  
That last comment takes the fight right out of Happy. He runs a finger through his wet hair and grimaces. He sits down right there on the rink and motions for Tony to do the same. It’s just because the big man has a serious expression on his face that is actually genuine, the same kind of expression he’d had when he’d stuttered through his explanation of what had developed between him and Pepper, that keeps his trap shut. He files the comment about acting like two school girls at a slumber party for a later date.

  
“I just— I’m sorry,” and Tony is alarmed to hear the man sound honestly distraught.

  
“Happy?” he asks softly. He brings a hand to grasp the man’s shoulder and squeeze because he knows how much it comforts him when the big man does that to him.

  
“I screwed up with that kid, Tony. I— Look, you know I’m not good at this kind of stuff. I’m a New Yorker, man. I ain’t good at talking about this, but... Every time i look at that boy all i can think about is that theres a possibility that he wouldn’t be here. And it’s my fault. I didn’t fucking listen to him. I thought I knew best—i thought i knew him and—if you hadn’t hacked—“

  
“Nobody says hack anymore, Hogan,” Tony says thickly and then squeezes the man’s shoulder again. It’s strange, he thinks, to see the guilt he carries every day on someone else. He loathes to see his friend like this. “And I’m sorry for what I—I knew you were feeling shitty about that and I still yelled at—“

  
“But you were right!” Hogan says angrily. “You were right to— to tell me off about that. He was trying so hard to be—he wanted to prove himself to you guys and I—I didn’t listen. I didn’t listen and he got hurt and, at the hospital, it just felt like—“

  
“Like you,” Tony says with a sudden tidal wave of understanding. “It felt like what happened to you.”

  
“Yeah,” Happy says miserably and wipes his face again. Tony keeps quiet this time; knowing it means more than just sweat this time. “Yeah, when you put me in charge of—when you told me to look after him I thought I knew how to do that. I thought it’d be simple, ya know, but nothing with you is ever simple. I should have known,” they both chuckled at that. Tony leans back against the post on his back and heaves out a heavy breath. He hates that Happy feels like this, and he hates the flare of fear that’s always constant in his throat when he thinks about how close he came to lose Happy because he was being an idiot. “So when he started calling with all of that—with the criminals and the—it was a flying vulture guy, Tony—I just— i saw you, you know, when you thought i was asleep. I saw the look on your face, and i hated that me getting hurt made you feel like that. You’ve been my friend a long time, ya know,” he blows out a breath. Like an antsy bull letting out steam, and Tony hunches in a little on himself. He’s so not good with these kinds of things. “And with Peter—you told me to leave it alone. At the theater; you told me to let you handle it and I didn’t listen. I didn’t listen and it almost—I hurt you and Pepper. With that. So I thought—I wanted to listen this time. I wanted to keep him safe and I thought—i knew you would deal with it. As much as you were allowed to with the UN and stuff. I knew you’d find a way to help him so I just— and you were so stressed and I just— if I could keep him away so you wouldn’t worry and—I’m just sorry. You keep trusting me and I just keep—“

  
“Trying your damn best, Hogan,” Tony says, staring at the middle distance. He knows how skittish his friend is, and staring at him head on tend to unsettle him. He keeps claiming Tony gets a look in his eyes when he’s not playing around. “Look, I admit that I wasn’t happy about how things turned out. I would have rather you told me straight on when the kid wouldn’t let things go. The reason I even dug in there besides the ‘hey, Mr. Stark! Can I be an Avenger now?!’ Messages is because I know that kid. How many times have you and Rhodey kid with me that he’s what i was like as a teenager? You’re not far off. And i knew he wouldn’t let it go. He’s too smart, too— he’s too good, all around, so I knew. But this idea you have? That i somehow blame you for the trouble he got into? That’s bullshit, man. You’re one of my best friends, Happy—“

  
“I’m one of your only three friends,” Hogan mutters under his breath. At the very least he’s lost the defensiveness on his position.

  
“All right, asshole, we get it. I’m a disaster,” Tony chuckles and punches his shoulder. “Anyway, Happy, hand to God and all of that. I’m thankful that In have you in my corner. And I’m thankful that you want to be in Peter’s too. Just talk to the kid, all right? I’m tired of dealing with his kicked puppy look every time you run out whatever room he’s in.”

  
“I don’t run, exactly—“

  
“Zip it, Hogan. You run out of whatever room he’s in faster than the time I finished Steve’s old timey bike and he told you he’d let you take a spin,” Tony says with an eye roll. He gets to his feet with a grunt. They’re definitely getting too old to be doing this shit. He’s in the middle of a full body stretch when he notices the sly look on his friend’s face. “What’s up with you?”

  
“Oh, nothing,” Happy says as he huffs while he gets to his feet as well. He grimaces and places his hands on his lower back for a stretch. They share a look of despair at their combined... oldness, and shake their heads. They’re halfway out of the room when the little shit says, “so he’s Steve again, huh?”

  
Tony feels his cheeks flush in embarrassment and it takes all his self control not to let his arm drop to the monstrosity hidden in the pocket of his sweats. He knows it’d only bring him trouble with the other two of Happy said anything. And while he’s good at many things, Harold Hogan is not good at keeping quiet about gossip.

  
“Shut up, Hogan,” Tony grumbles and punches him on the shoulder. They separate in the hall as each makes their ways to their rooms to shower. “The kid’s coming tomorrow! You’re talking to him!” He calls out and smirks at the squeak of sneakers and Happy’s muttered curse.

***  
The next day, he makes sure to make himself scarce. He locks down the lab and asks FRIDAY to open a live feed of the kitchen. He’d specifically told his girl to let the boys know he’d be up in a little less than an hour for pizza but that he was very engaged with a project at the moment and he simply couldn’t afford distraction. He leans back on his chair and puts his arms behind his head as he watches the end of their interactions. He actually had been busy with a new prototype for the team’s quinjet, but he’d managed to catch the end.  
He can’t help the huge smile that overtakes his face as he watches the kid tackle the bigger man into a hug. Happy hoofs out a breath as the kid puts a bit too much of his strength behind it. He’s beet red as he pats the boy’s back with a begrudging “all right, all right.” Peter, for his part, has a huge grin on his face and his mouth is running a mile a minute as always as he tells Happy how glad he is that he doesn’t hate him. Oh, man, he’d told Ned and then—

  
Tony watches them and can’t help but think: _God bless Aunt May for making that kid a hugger._

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys, thank you for your kind words and invaluable support on my older fics. I think—i might be able to write one more chapter for my post-CW fic. Maybe. If it happens it’d all be thanks to you.  
> Thank you. Fervently. 
> 
> I’m gonna use this platform as a PSA: If y’all got any way to help Purto Rico and Mexico and Texas and India and all of these places being hit by natural disasters I urge you to try your best. Anything helps, really. Even if it’s just reblogging a post on Tumblr or forwarding a status on FB. Our fellow human beings need us. For my part, I refuse to let the excuse of a government my country has dictate my humanity.


End file.
